By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — St. Vincent's Hospital announced Tuesday that 180 of its 3,800 employees had been laid off due to the tough economy and a series of state-imposed funding cuts over the last two years.
"The delivery of healthcare is changing in this city, state and country, and to ensure that St. Vincent's 160-year healthcare mission continues, tough choices have to be made now," Henry Amoroso, president and chief executive of the St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, said in a statement cited by Crain's New York.
The New York Times reported that the layoffs hit workers in both union and non-union sectors ranging from food service to housekeeping and clerical work. The only medical staff to be cut were nurses, the amount of which was not confirmed.
Last month the Greater New York Hospital Association anticipated 12,000 layoffs of New York City health care workers if all of Gov. David Paterson's proposed health budget cuts were to pass.
The final version of the budget, however, did not include some of the most severe of the proposed cuts.
"You can't cut healthcare seven times in two years and not expect there to be consequences," Brian Conway, a spokesman for the group, told the Times Tuesday. "We have said time and again that hospitals have no room left to absorb additional cuts, and we’re deeply concerned that what happened at St. Vincent’s today is just the tip of the iceberg."
St. Vincent's Hospital came out of bankruptcy two years ago, and since has been working to curtail expenses and increase revenues.
